Alison Conroy has confirmed that Jeremie Frimpong is nearing a move to Bayer Leverkusen for a fee of £11.5m. The Dutch youngster joined Celtic in August 2019 and has been a revelation in the first team with his powerful running and enthusiastic personality.
However, the player made it clear to the manager that he wanted to leave – probably owing to lack of European football and potentially a better standard of coaching. £11.5m constitutes another high export from the club with Kieran Tierney, Moussa Dembele, Virgil Van Dijk, Fraser Forster and Victor Wanyama examples of recent sales by the club.
Frimpong in talks with Bayer Leverkusen. I understand the fee is around £11.5m https://t.co/kVQ5oG8J7m
— Alison Conroy (@AlisonGConroy) January 26, 2021
Man City will no doubt be due a chunk of this, likely to be around £3m, which leaves Celtic at £8m – not a bad return from a £300k investment. But it only matters if it is reinvested wisely, either a new manager or in proven quality players.
Neil Lennon confirmed earlier on that Frimpong wanted to leave the club but that there were more players eyeing The Celtic Park exit. The players are clearly unhappy with the way that this season has gone and how they have been criticised so openly in the media by the manager.
“A player on loan” between now and the end of the season is what we’re expecting in
— The Cynic (@90MinuteCynic) January 26, 2021
The club are in a sorry state as players push for the exits, fans are feeling total apathy towards the club as they await the January review that was promised in the wake of the defeat against Rangers at Ibrox. With 23 points of a gap between 1st and 2nd place, as well as no European football on offer, sticking around at the club is hardly ideal for your prospects of a big move.
If he wants to go let him go, same for the others who want to jump ship. Another player who has used Celtic as a stepping stone to get up the ladder quickly . The sooner we get in a top coach the players will think again about jumping ship.
If they don’t want to play for a club like Celtic then let them go. No use keeping them I’m sure there are players out there with a better pedigree that will want to play for us get our money back with a bit of interest and rebuild get a manager in with intent to get back on track.